go for the heart ..

 

better to go for the heart
if you can get someone to give their heart
then anything is possible

Jesus did ..
he went for the heart every time

selah ..~

read the first few chapters of the gospel of Jesus according to apostle john
   Jesus closest friend ..
repeatedly he redirects
points upwards
shifts the focus
adjusts the worldview
up
ever up
off the earthview
away from the physical
up to the spirit-ual
ever up

take the samaritan woman as 1 example

he's sitting by a well outside Sychar of Samaria
a woman approaches with her pot to get water
and he asks her for water ..

that's a nono
- like oil and water, jews and samaritans do not mix
they are enemies and even claim different spiritual holy places
   although they believe in the same God and trace their spiritual heritage from the very same place
   and both are expectant  for the Messiah ( think advent )..
- also in that day men don't converse with women in private
the disciples had gone looking for food and Jesus sat there alone when she walked up
so Jesus immediately blew 2 nono's out of the water with 1 short sentence ..

he did stuff like that

he went to the heart of the matter

then he redirected the woman's attention from wellwater to spiritwater
and identified himself when he told her personal stuff about her life
and so on ..
blew her mind
and blew the disciples' minds when they returned and saw him talking with a woman
Jesus did stuff like that
and a Samaritan woman to boot
Jesus was like that

and then there's the nicodemus story and physical vs spiritual birth

and nathanael - when Jesus first saw him he said " look, a genuine, sincere isrealite indeed - no deceit in him .."
genuine
acknowledging his heart

and the famous temple advent where Jesus took on the religious
   the ones who most stood in his way
   the mentality that was anti to heart
   posturing and pretense and pomp and pride and falsepiety
methodically plaiting a whip and angrily driving them out ..
angrily
from his heart

anger out of love

Jesus was like that ..

selah ..~

distraction ..

whenever you can
fight against the distractions
remind yourself of the heart-of-the-matter
move in that direction
diss the rabbit trails
watch out for the bogs and swamps and roots that look to trip and swallow you up
sucking the kingdom energy right out as you struggle to get loose and free yourself
waste of energy

the saddest part of it all
is that too often those red herrings and rabbits come from within kingdom ..
the enemy to fear the most is the one that comes at you from inside kingdom walls
where you least expect

selah ..~

Jesus was a simple man
he tended to simplify ..
he went direct to he heart
he didn't play games
didn't play politics
didn't thrust and parry
didn't worry too much about the players
especially the religious players

what he did was to drive direct to the heart
when faced with those distractions
those that would divert him
divest him of his mission
deter

Jesus was into a mindset that said ..
   clarify
   simplify
   balance
   centre
he redirected from the mindset
to a centred heartset
constantly
as he walked in spirit
submitted to his GodFather

he wasn't hesitant to walk off
alone
commune with God
reboot
remind himself of the criticality of centre ..

when needful he aloned it

see, Jesus didn't commit himself to people
even the ones that said they believed ..
another form of ' religion '    ?

he didn't need people to point him out and praise him and testify to him
because he knew people
he understood human
intimately
for he is human
he knew the human mindset and heartset ..
and he walked away from that
turned his back on it
left them standing there
praising thin air
playing their games
plying their politics
pointing at .. empty space
            ( john 2: 23-25 )

selah ..~

when you decide to walk in the path of Jesus
go for the heart

be aware of the distractions
especially those that would come from within your own camp
from the ' believers ' ..

walk His walk
take His position on it
match His example

swallow Jesus regularly
   like nurturing bread
   like cleansing wine

clarify
   simplify
      centre
         balance

go for the heart
every time